Democrats like transparency in government
From Dan Froomkin today:
Hope Yen writes for the Associated Press that Obama’s move comes as "the latest in a three-decade-long pingpong game with FOIA policy.
"In the late 1970s, Carter’s attorney general, Griffin Bell, issued guidance to err on the side of releasing information. Under Reagan, William French Smith came in and reversed that; he told them, ‘when in doubt withhold.’ Then under Clinton, Janet Reno reversed it again; she told agencies their presumption should be for release.
"But Bush Attorney General John Ashcroft went back the other way in October 2001, telling agencies he would defend any legal justification for withholding documents. . . .
Note strong correlation of political party and support for the FOIA. Correlation is not causation, of course, but in this case causation produced the correlation.
